Welcome to FINNOV: Finance, Innovation & Growth

FINNOV is a research collaboration between seven European institutions aimed at understanding the relationship between changing financial markets, innovation dynamics, and economic performance. Our work has assisted policy makers and European industry to understand the sources, implications and management of positive and negative changes in financial markets. Our key aim has been to think of ways that financial markets can be reformed so they better support innovation and long run growth—or put provocatively: finance for Schumpeterian creative destruction not destructive creation! Detailed policy messages can be found in our Policy Briefs. We presented our key results on Feb 2nd 2012, at a FINNOV conference in UK Parliament with keynote speeches by Minister of State David Willetts, and Shadow Science Minister Chi Onwurah. Although the European Commission’s 3 year FP7 funding for FINNOV officially ended in March 2012, FINNOV researchers are continuing to work together on new collaborations—such as through AIRNET and new grants such as an INET grant which connects finance and innovation through the work of Hyman Minsky and Joseph Schumpeter. Outputs from these collaborations will soon be posted to this website….so please stay tuned!

The financial service sector is an important component of modern service-based economies in Europe. Financial innovations have major impacts elsewhere in the economy but as the current financial crisis shows these interactions are poorly understood and difficult to manage. To ensure that European policy is supported by high-quality research, the FINNOV project has been funded through Theme 8 of the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Commission (Socio-Economic Sciences and the Humanities), under the topic "The role of finance in growth, employment and competitiveness in Europe (SSH -2007 - 1.2.3)”. The 3 year project started March 1, 2009 (total EC contribution €1,494,870).

The long-term economic performance of Europe depends on its ability to generate new knowledge and inventions, and then to translate inventions into economic adaptation and growth. Recent research has highlighted the critical role played by the supply of appropriate forms of finance within this process. The research being undertaken within the FINNOV project will improve understanding of the sources and roles of financial innovations within the wider economy, the changing roles of the financial system, and the implications of these changes for the social distribution of risks and rewards. Given the strong negative effect of the current financial crisis on many European economies, a central element of the FINNOV research programme will be to determine how European governments and institutions can ensure that the financial system supports investment in innovation in sustainable and equitable ways.

Disclaimer: The views expressed during the execution of the FINNOV project, in whatever form and or by whatever medium, are the sole responsibility of the authors. The European Union is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained therein